First and Last Words
by Chrysalin
Summary: Their first words to their complete selves, no masks, comes back around at the end.


"You're really here."

"Silly kitty. Where else would I be?"

They'd promised, after too many fights and close calls, after years of danger and distress, that they would finally reveal themselves to each other after defeating Hawkmoth. They planned the whole thing, where and when, and privately tried to prepare what they would say to their partners when they got to truly know each other for the first time.

For Adrien, at least, everything he'd intended to say flew out of his head when he got to the Eiffel Tower and saw Marinette standing there, her kwami hovering by her shoulder. He never would have guessed who it would be under the spotted mask, but at the same time, he couldn't imagine anyone who would be better.

Marinette turned to face him as he managed to choke out, "Plagg, claws in." Her expression mirrored his own shock back to him, but he thought she probably felt the same way about her partner's identity that he did.

Those were the first words they exchanged as their true, complete selves. Marinette couldn't remember what had been their actual first words, though she remembered the whole gum situation well enough. Adrien claimed he did, but she privately doubted it. Her partner had a tendency to be dramatic and could just as easily be exaggerating in an attempt to be cute.

She never thought she'd hear those words again years later, in a much different context.

They'd been happy. Their war against the akumas had ended, and life had returned to normal as much as was possible for two superheroes. They went to school, worked, lived. They watched their friends get married, had a wedding of their own, continued to protect their city as the other heroes occasionally joined them. If Adrien sometimes struggled with what his father had done, no one said anything. If Marinette sometimes had to pull away from the public eye when it was too much, there was never a word about it. The people around them understood their scars without needing an explanation.

They'd given so much, and they deserved the joy they'd found. So how was something so horrible happening to them.

"He's been asking for you, madame. He doesn't have much longer."

Marinette nodded as the doctor left, standing in the hall outside her husband's hospital room. She dashed the tears away, trying to put on a brave face as Tikki patted her comfortingly from her purse.

"Marinette?"

She forced herself to swallow and straightened her shoulders, striding in with a smile she knew he wouldn't believe and taking a seat by his bed. "Hey, Adrien."

"You're really here."

"Silly kitty. Where else would I be?"

He laughed a little before coughing, even those few words putting a strain on his fragile body. She shushed him before he could say anything else and helped him sip a little water. Marinette rubbed his hand between hers, looking at his ring, wishing she was willing to risk the cost of using their miraculouses to heal him.

It didn't take long for the heart monitor to flatline, but she managed to keep her composure as they called the official time of death and gave her a minute with him. She slid his ring off and carefully set it in her purse with Tikki, mentally saying goodbye to Plagg. She couldn't bear putting it on herself to say something personally. He was Adrien's, not hers.

Orderlies came in and asked if she was ready for them to take his body, and she nodded and stood aside. It left her alone in the room, except for Tikki. Sweet, wonderful Tikki, who had been there with her through the worst the universe could throw at her, and who she would never see again either. There would be no Ladybug without her Cat Noir.

The kwami flew out of her purse and pressed their cheeks together. "It's okay, Marinette. I know."

The distraught woman gave her dear friend a teary smile. "Goodbye, Tikki."

She vanished into the earrings as Marinette removed them and put them in the little box she'd received so long ago. She would take the two miraculouses to the guardian soon. For now, she had to grieve.


End file.
